The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

Before returning home, Juho decided to make a brief visit to the bookstore. There was something he needed to buy.

On his way to a bookstore nearby, a foreigner caught Juho’s eyes. Her antsy behavior made it obvious that she was lost. Whenever she tried to reach out to talk to someone, people would walk away in a hurry. If things had been anything like how they used to be, Juho probably would have done the same.

However, with the language acquisition device in his head, Juho was now able to face that foreigner’s language with confidence.

“Do you need help?” he asked the foreigner in English.

Her eyes sparkled upon hearing her native tongue, and the foreigner answered back in English, “Yes, please! I’m looking for a lodging location named ‘Arabia,’ but I have no clue on how to get there.”

“Hm, one moment.”

Juho had never heard of the place. After a brief moment thinking, he lead the foreigner into a nearby real estate office. A drowsy employee jumped out of his seat at their presence.

“Could you give me directions to a lodging location named ‘Arabia?’”

“Ah, yes! One moment.”

The employee searched for something in a hurry. Upon finding the place, he pointed to the location using a map on the wall. Juho translated simultaneously as the employee explained how the place could be reached and felt the employee staring at him in amazement.

“Oh, I know this place. It was across that one grocery store. I’ve been walking around this area in a circle.”

The foreigner smiled brightly. She must have been scared of getting lost in a foreign country.

“Have a great trip!”

“Oh, thank you so much! This is why I can’t stop travelling even though I get lost every time.”

Saying that a helper could always be found, she went on her way after thanking Juho. He waved as she turned around. The brief relationship had come to an end, and Juho too made his way back to the bookstore.

The large bookstore was booming with people. He walked past the long line of people waiting for their turn at the cashier. ‘The Trace of a Bird’ was on display on the first rack that crossed Juho’s eyes. People standing in front of the rack were examining the book. After watching them briefly, Juho turned back.

It had been a while since he had been to a bookstore. Wanting to peruse, Juho walked over to the literature section. The books were divided by the authors’ names, and they were all famous writers.

As he scanned through the books, Juho stopped in front of one author’s name, Dong Gil Uhm. Right next to it was another author named Seo Joong Ahn. The bookstore might have placed them very close to each other deliberately.

Those two authors were a renowned duo in the literature world.

Their history went back to their birth. They were born two months apart in the same neighborhood and went to the same school throughout elementary, middle school, and high school. Dong Gil Uhm had revealed in his essay that he and his friend Seo Joong Ahn had been in the same class six times in the past.

Their path seemed to finally split in their college years, but Seo Joong Ahn ended up getting thrown out of his dorm. In the end, he stayed at Dong Gil Uhm’s house through university.

Now, those two friends were working in the same field as authors. Both had become successful in their profession, and their friendship was truly inseparable.

Juho had read a novel that had been co-written by the two authors. It had been a popular read then, and that had been rightfully so. Juho had enjoyed it a lot. Written by two, polar-opposite people, that book had brought about a sensation that was both hot and cold.

“Dong Gil Uhm.”

Juho had read his work quite a bit when he had been older. Most of his books were based on true events, and his expressions, too, were realistic. His satire was honest, cold, and sharp. His style was both concise and masculine. Once in an interview, Dong Gil Uhm had revealed that he looked up to Ernest Hemingway.

Juho picked up a book and felt the coolness of the cover. The book was named ‘Genius.’ Though he had planned on looking at it briefly at first, he ended up buying the book out of impulse.

He walked into the specialized section. On the floor, there was a person sitting down, reading. Juho walked past his legs and kept on walking. The shelves were divided into categories. After scanning through them one by one, he eventually found the words he had been looking for: original language.

There was no one around. Because it was in the inner part of a section, the original language shelf was shaded by the surrounding shelves. The books were in various languages, and the section gave off a secretive vibe. Perhaps, it had something to do with the shelf being in the shade.

English, Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Latin, Russian, Finnish… These books were written in a wide variety of languages. Some were written in languages that weren’t as well known, like Welsh, Scandinavian, Gothic, and Lombardian. Juho had the urge to buy each and every one, but he had made up his mind to limit himself to three books.

After some contemplation, he picked up a book written in Japanese. There were adorable characters on its red cover. Thanks to that book, the secretive vibe of the section vanished completely.

In the first page, there were Katakana and Hiragana.

‘Click.’

There was a sound in Juho’s head as soon as he began reading the book. It was the sound of a button being pushed.

The device began to work. The next page, and then another page. The pace of the turning pages was picking up, and Juho’s device was acquiring the universal grammar of the Japanese language.

“Hello. Nice to meet you. Did you eat? Waste of resources. Destruction of the environment. What is your opinion? What day is it today? It’s a holiday. It’s snowing out. Clear skies. Have a seat. Should we have a drink? I’m in a good mood. Thank you.”

As Juho murmured random phrases in Japanese, the man reading on the floor glimpsed over at him. Ignoring him, Juho engulfed himself in the fascinating sensation in his head.

It was like smelling with his nose.

The language acquisition device detected the scent of a language. It was a natural process.

Juho pulled out another book from the shelf. German. The book had been written specifically for travellers, ‘Guten Tag.’ From basic greetings to flight, lodging, restaurants, shopping, transportation, phone and emergencies, the book was organized into categories.

‘Click.’

There was that sound again. Juho tried to focus his attention at his head. It somewhat felt like there was heat radiating from his temple.

After reading through several books, Juho picked up three of them. They were in German, French, and Spanish. He planned on learning as many other languages as he could.

The cashier was quiet, and Juho paid for his books without much trouble.

*

“Mr. James. I’m here to get your stuff.”

Juho went into the English class. It was a class being taught by James, the native English instructor. Since the centipede incident, Juho had started talking to James frequently. After discovering, in the process, that Juho was extremely interested in the English language, James told him that he would provide him with resources on Medieval and Old English, and Juho gladly accepted his offer.

“Give me a moment. I’m in the middle of transferring the data. It’s almost done,” James answered him in a natural English. He was already aware of Juho’s level of skill.

In response, Juho replied in English, “Sure. Do you think I’ll be able to pick it up before club activities?”

“Of course! Here, done!”

He handed back the flash drive he had borrowed from Juho. In the flash drive, Juho would probably find the history of the English language that James had studied as a student. He picked it up with a grateful heart.

“If you get stuck, come find me. I did put in some notes, but it’s still not an easy read.”

“Great, thank you!”

“You don’t have to thank me. Now, I feel like an actual a teacher. Dealing with drowsy students is so boring that it makes me yawn,” James said as he pretended to yawn.

It was an exaggerated gesture, but Juho saw a resemblance with someone in his struggle of developing an affection for school life, “Are you close with Mr. Moon by any chance?”

“He helped me out a few times when I was studying Korean. We ate together too. The pork belly was delicious.”

It was slightly amusing to picture the two grilling together. James lowered his voice and asked Juho discreetly, “Did you know that Mr. Moon hates boiled carrots? I saw him separating them from his food and setting them aside.”

“Boiled Carrots.”

He hadn’t seemed like a picky eater. That was unexpected.

“I made fun of his appetite, and he got angry, asking where I had learned to say things like that. Thanks to him, I learned a new verb in Korean.”

‘What an amazing teacher.’ As James was about to continue, the door opened. Juho turned around and saw Mr. Moon standing with a stack of printer paper. ‘I guess he’s not all that gentlemanly-like afterall,’ he thought.

“Hi.”

“Mr. Moon, why come here?” following Juho’s greeting, James asked Mr.Moon with his slightly awkward Korean pronunciation.

After looking at the two, one after the other, he waved the stack of papers in his hand.

“The printer in the staffroom isn’t working, so that’s why I’m here. What are you doing here, Juho? Isn’t it time for club activities?”

“I’m here to learn English.”

“I don’t recall you being so diligent. You never came to me, and I never saw you in the staffroom.”

There he went again with his blunt remarks.

“I’m interested in the English language.”

Mr. Moon seemed to be surprised by Juho’s answer. At that moment, James spoke up, “Juho is a hard-working student. He’s highly skilled in the language. He has a deep understanding of the English language. He speaks with me mostly in English.”

“Is that so? I had no idea. What do you guys talk about usually?”

“There’s really no preference from our daily lives to current events. At times, we talk about the centipede that we let go out into the backyard. He’s very fun to be around.”

Mr. Moon said as he rubbed his chin, “Then I must’ve heard it right when I heard my name come up.”

“Hm. Um. Mr. Moon’s words. I don’t understand. What?” James was at loss of words. It was one of those moments when his Korean was put to to the test.

Juho decided to leave the room to not be a hindrance between the two. As he attempted to sneak out, Mr.Moon caught him like a hawk and said, “You were on your way to the science room, weren’t you? Let’s go together.”

“Yes, Mr. Moon.”

Until Mr.Moon finished with his business, Juho kept fiddling with his flash drive in his pocket. As Mr. Moon and Juho went on their way, James said brightly, “Come again.”

“Take care.”

After nodding lightly, the two went out to the hallway.

It was quiet. The students had already gone into their respective classrooms. Juho had lost track of time talking to James. If Mr. Moon hadn’t shown up, he would’ve been late. ‘I should be careful from now on,’ thought Juho.

While walking quietly, Mr. Moon spoke up, “I read your paper. There was a lot of character and personality in the end.”

“Was there?” Juho answered as if he didn’t know.

“You must have experience writing.”

“Pardon me?”

“There’s stability in your sentences. There’s no awkwardness, especially in longer sentences. That’s impossible to accomplish unless you’re an experienced writer. Well, I suppose it could be possible for a prodigy.”

Juho hesitated.

<Language Acquisition Device> The End